


Make You Up

by mhunter10



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Actor Ian, Alternate Universe, Declarations Of Love, Jealousy, Kissing, M/M, Makeup, Makeup Artist Mickey, Pining, Platonic Relationships, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-20
Updated: 2016-10-20
Packaged: 2018-08-23 14:05:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8330647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mhunter10/pseuds/mhunter10
Summary: The one where Mickey is a makeup artist who falls hard for the man in his chair.





	

Mickey read over the notes from the director again, trying to decipher his chicken scratch. Despite his scatterbrained ramblings, Mickey had actually enjoyed working for him. He had been in some pretty shitty productions with absolute baby men whining whenever anything didn’t go their way, sometimes walking off the set entirely. This one had actually listened when Mickey had spoken up about one of the make up decisions.

Mickey never thought he’d find himself doing makeup, but he’d always loved movies and the magic behind making humans into monsters or whatever. He never cared when people made fun of him for doing plays in high school. He never wanted to be the one on screen, but he wanted to be known for his work. He moved to Hollywood the first chance he got and the rest was…well, typical odd jobs that paid the rent between major productions. But a job was a job, no matter what.

Which is how he found himself working on one of those dime a dozen supernatural teen shows. It paid well, the people were great, and the writing was actually pretty good as far as he could tell, so he couldn’t complain. He wasn’t sure if he was surprised or relieved when it got a second season, but he was glad it did. Especially since a new character was introduced.

Ian Gallagher had a recurring roll in a short arc as Dustin Hooper. Apparently he was a shy but likable guy that turned out to be a demon after the main female character. Mickey had seen him in a few movies, but up close and personal he was fucking gorgeous…and a major dweeb. He’d quickly grown attached, once he got over his star struck awkwardness, loving spending the two hours with him. It got to the point he started getting jealous watching him act and interact with his costars. Dustin and Bailey were supposed to dance around a relationship, thus making the eventual reveal even more devastating for the fans, who had coined them as Dailey. Every time Mickey saw them get close, he wanted to run onto the set and shove her off the fake balcony. They even flirted off camera, playing up the act for publicity no doubt, but it still made Mickey’s skin crawl.

The more time they spent together talking and joking, or enjoying the too-early-call time silence, the more Mickey realized he was falling in love with the guy. He imagined it was him in those intimate scenes, hovering close to his face to kiss him instead of apply paint. And then Ian had told him he was gay. Well, not directly. He was telling him about the horribly cringy date he’d gone on thanks to his brother, and he was just so casual about it caught Mickey off guard. His heart leaped for joy in his chest at the idea he could have a chance, but then he quickly put it out of his head. What celebrity would ever start dating the weird special makeup guy that’d basically been up in their pores for a month? But it didn’t stop him from daydreaming about it. He was terrible at hiding it around Ian, though, which is how the wardrobe chick, Svetlana, found out about him. She would make fun of him, but she turned out to be a great friend. They spent their lunches together and even went out for drinks.

Suddenly Mickey’s heart stopped. He read the small note again and didn’t want to believe it. Next to Ian’s name was the word that punched a hole right through his chest. ‘Wrap’ stared back at him. So that was it. Today would be Ian’s last day on set. Mickey had known it was coming, but now that it was here he wanted to cry and panic at the same time. He wanted to barge into the writing room and make them rewrite the script so that Ian could stay. Just one more week, at least, one more and Mickey could maybe sorta kinda get up the courage to tell him how he felt.

Svetlana came into the trailer, scaring Mickey out of his thoughts. She immediately knows he’s seen it.

Mickey holds up his hands and shakes his head. “Don’t even start, Lana.” He got up and started setting up his area.

“Mickey, you need to tell orange boy today! Otherwise, no dick for you,” she said sternly.

“I can’t. Nope, no. Not happening,” Mickey refused. He couldn’t. There was no way.

“But he likes you!”

“He’s a nice guy, he likes everybody,” Mickey reasoned. He wasn’t going to get his hopes up.

Svetlana scoffed, “Not pompous jerk, Chase.”

Mickey hated that guy. People liked him because he was rich and famous before buying his way into acting, which he was terrible at. Mickey didn’t know why he kept getting jobs, but it probably had a lot to do with his father owning a lot of production companies. He was happy to see that Ian wasn’t sucked into his entourage.

Then there was a knock on the door, and Ian climbed into view.

“Hey Mickey, hey Svetlana,” Ian greeted them genuinely.

“Hi, sweetie. Excited, yes?” she grabbed his shoulder.

“Yeah, and a little sad to be leaving everyone,” Ian admitted, and his eyes seemed to find Mickey’s.

Mickey swallowed hard.

“Well, we will miss you. Won’t we, Mickey?” Svetlana glared at him with a huge smile. It was fucking scary.

Mickey cleared his throat while laying out some paper towels. “Yeah, man. Good luck.” He finally looked up at them and clearly imagined that Ian looked like he’d just dropped his ice cream.

Svetlana stared at him another minute, before kissing Ian on the cheek and heading for the door. She turned back and mouthed 'pussy’. Mickey ducked his head.

“Ready?” he asked Ian, wanting to both get it over with and make it last forever.

“Yep,” Ian said curtly, sitting down. He immediately put his headphones in and closed his eyes.

Mickey was a fool to think Ian would ever want him. He made the mistake of going to the set to watch. Ian took a while to really get into it, flubbing a few lines and even spacing out entirely. It was like he was thinking about something. Then the scene came where Dustin and Bailey finally kiss….five times for five different angles. Of course, Dustin was then going to try and kill her, but Mickey couldn’t take it. He turned and walked back to his trailer, not wanting to join in the goodbye festivities. Things would be back to normal next week, and Mickey would never have to see Ian Gallagher again…unless he got another job, which he would because he was amazing. It was almost a shame Bailey would defeat the monster like always.

Later, Mickey was busying himself practicing some vein effects with his airbrush. He would need it for a few upcoming episodes and it wasn’t looking quite right just yet. He’d just got it to look halfway decent for network television, when there was a soft knock on the door.

“Come in!” He yelled, expecting Svetlana to invite him to drinks to get over the blow to his heart.

Then Ian was standing there in his street clothes, watching what he was doing.

“Looks good,” he said.

“Looks good enough,” Mickey shrugged then looked up. “Oh.” He could feel his face turn red.

“It’s the big picture that counts,” Ian said.

Mickey scoffed, “So the little details don’t matter, huh?”

Ian stepped closer, “No, I’m saying they’ll come together and it’ll work out in the end.”

“You’ve never worked with Shymalan,” Mickey said, grinning slightly.

Ian laughed, sitting down in Mickey’s chair. “Maybe he’s taking a page from Producers,” he said absently, looking at two pictures of himself taped to the mirror.

Mickey realized he’d forgotten to take down the test shots, although he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t used them for other purposes. One was Ian shirtless from the waist up, for fuck’s sake, how could he not? The other was just his face, no real make up but a scar that ended up not being used. But Mickey couldn’t throw it away, not when Ian’s eyes looked so good and his cheek bones and that fucking jaw.

Mickey bit his lip, as he watched Ian. They’d been this close for almost two months but it felt awkward…no, stifling. The air was filled with so much tension, it would show up in the credits.

Ian finally spoke, taking something from his pocket. “Just wanted to return these,” he said, placing the black contacts on the table.

“You know we destroy everything after shooting, so you can keep them…if you want,” Mickey said, feeling stupid for telling a star how the business works.

But Ian smiled, taking them back. “Thanks, Mickey.”

Mickey nodded. Their eyes met for a full minute, before Mickey reached out to touch Ian’s neck just below his jaw. Ian sort of flinched, leaning towards Mickey with hooded eyes. “Missed a spot,” Mickey said stupidly.

“Missed…what? Oh, oh I thought…” Ian stammered, flushing a little bit.

“What?” Mickey asked, getting some makeup remover and dabbing at the stubborn area. He’d done this a million times now. What he wouldn’t give for a million more.

Ian looked up at Mickey as he concentrated. Mickey finished and met his eyes, realizing he was watching him.

“What were you saying?” Mickey sort of whispered, feeling suddenly overwhelmed by being this close to Ian’s face. It reminded him of the scene he’d had to watch over and over again. If only he could just say something, do something for once, he could have that moment too, minus the Ian turning into a demon part. He pulled back, determined not to make his life harder. He would get over it, and he would keep working until the show got too cliche and fucked up.

“Nothing,” he said softly, shaking his head. He let out a breath and got up. “I better go.”

“Yeah,” Mickey wanted to throw himself off the fake balcony. Ian was walking away from him and it was going to go back to him alone with his makeup, like always.

Ian reached for the door handle but stopped. He turned around smiling, although his eyes looked sad. “Thanks for making me look good, Mickey.”

Mickey couldn’t do it. He couldn’t let him leave. He was over to him in three strides, grabbing his face and kissing him hard on the mouth. This was definitely not like the Dailey kiss. This was so much better than that weak shit.

Ian made a surprised sound when their lips connected, but quickly wrapped his arms around Mickey’s waist and pulled him closer. They kissed until they couldn’t breathe.

Mickey hummed, pulling away with his hands still cupped around Ian’s face. “I like you…a lot,” Mickey panted. Everything he was feeling led up to those simple words that would just have to do. He wasn’t a writer or a great actor, after all.

Ian grinned, chuckling, “I like you too…a lot.” His mouth hung open with wet pouty lips, ready to reconnect with Mickey’s.

“Really? Me?” Mickey hesitated, not expecting Ian’s answer. He wanted to kiss him again so bad, but not if he didn’t want to.

“Yeah, Mick,” Ian lunged in, crashing their mouths together. It was Mickey’s turn to moan in disbelief and bliss. Ian backed him into the table, pressing close between his legs. Mickey scrambled for purchase, accidentally knocking over some bottles and his airbrush.

“Wait wait,” he jerked away to pick it up and put it back in its box. “Thing cost me a paycheck.”

Ian nodded, understanding. He stepped back and wiped at his mouth. When Mickey was done he turned around and leaned against the edge of the table. Ian came forward again, smiling.

“Good?”

Mickey nodded, feeling embarrassed for letting a tool cockblock him. He wondered how far gone they’d be if he hadn’t cared about it.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Ian asked.

“When?” Mickey stalled.

“At any point our faces were inches apart in the last month?” Ian laughed, although he seemed serious.

Mickey ducked his head. “Didn’t think it would matter,” he said quietly. “I’m better off just staying behind the scenes.”

“Says who?”

“Says me. It’s always been that way, me on my own on the sideline. Up until recently, I thought the only thing I had to make me happy was makeup. Now I want something else…something better. That’s you, Ian.” Mickey looked up, taking Ian’s hands.

Ian smiled, leaning down to kiss Mickey softly this time. Mickey ran his fingers through his hair and cupped the back of his neck. His thumb smoothed his hard jaw as they tasted each others tongues. Ian pulled away and sighed.

“I guess I’m good at acting, but terrible at hints,” Ian said.

“What do you mean?”

“I thought you would get jealous if I went on a date with someone else. Even told Svetlana what I was looking for in a guy, but just described you. You’re good at what you do and you love it. You’re funny and look damn good in a fanny pack full of makeup sponges.”

Mickey laughed, shoving at Ian’s stomach, but he came right back.

“You’re the little detail that was missing from my big picture, Mickey,” Ian admitted.

Mickey pulled him down and kissed him. He was a fool to think Ian wouldn’t want him.

There was a knock at the door and they separated themselves out of decency. Svetlana poked her head in and looked surprised to see Ian, then grinned devilishly.

“Are we celebrating or mourning?”

Mickey and Ian looked at each other.

“Celebrating,” Mickey said, taking Ian’s hand.

“Took you two long enough. Come, we drink,” she winked at them before leaving.

Ian laughed and Mickey rolled his eyes, as they followed after her


End file.
